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NEW SCHOOL YEAR. Students and teachers at the Corazon Aquino Elementary School start the new school year on June 3, 2019. Photo by Jire Carreon/Rappler

MANILA, Philippines – As the Department of Education (DepEd) opened a new school year on Monday, June 3, public school teachers reiterated their call for higher pay, saying many of the country's 800,000 teachers have been struggling to make ends meet.

"This dire economic situation has caused great frustration among teachers, as evidenced by the persistent clamor for pay hike. Be it school opening, graduation period, or vacation time, teachers ache for just compensation," Basilio said in a statement Monday. (WATCH: Why do teachers teach?)

Under the 4th tranche of the Salary Standardization Law, entry-level public school teachers have a Salary Grade 11, which amounts to P20,754. This is followed by "Teacher 2" salaries worth P22,938.

Basilio warned that if teachers' pay remained low, it could affect the quality of education of students. Aside from their low pay, teachers earlier raised concerns about their increased workload that has taken time away from actual teaching.

"Teachers' working conditions are the students' learning conditions. No amount of sacrifice and effort on the part of the teachers will suffice to cover up the state's neglect of the education sector," Basilio said.

Despite this, teachers' demands remain unanswered. In 2018, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) had said it would study the suggestion "carefully" as it would cost the government an additional P343.7 billion in Personnel Services costs.

Education Secretary Leonor Briones echoed this in a press conference on Monday.

"The Department of Budget and Management is studying not only the salary of teachers but of the entire public service sector because it's hard for government to raise the salary of one sector and leave out the rest. That would widen the gap," Briones said. – Rappler.com

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Welcome to Rappler, a social news network where stories inspire community engagement and digitally fuelled actions for social change. Rappler comes from the root words "rap" (to discuss) + "ripple" (to make waves).